About a year ago, I began thinking about unloading my existing property and getting a new house. Unfortunately, I wasn't really sure where to start, so I turned to a friend of mine who specialized in real estate. They walked me through the entire process of selling a house and investing in a new one, and I was really impressed with how much of a difference they made in my process. I began working hard to get things taken care of, and within a few months I was able to completely transform my finances with the sale of my home.
3 Things To Consider When Buying Land To Build A Custom Home On
Buying a piece of land offers the perfect opportunity to build a custom house and create unique landscaping that turns your property into a personal dreamland. Here are a few things to consider when looking at lots for sale:
Easements and Right-of-Ways
It's important to consider any easements or right-of-ways that are grandfathered into any land you consider purchasing, as these things can have a major impact on your overall land development and custom home building designs. If for example there is an easement on the property you buy, you won't be able to build anything on the easement because it needs to be accessible to whoever owns the easement.
You probably don't want to build your home right next to a right-of-way, where other vehicles and people might travel through at any given time. So make sure you know whether an easement or right-of-way is present and if so, where before committing to purchase any piece of land.
Previous Land Improvements
You also need to know about any and all improvements that have been made to a particular property before making an offer on it. Even if a simple rock wall was built around the property lines, you should know about it ahead of time. The wall may not be built right on the property line and will need to be taken down before you can get permits from the county to build your custom home.
And you don't want to find out after buying a piece of land that plumbing work has been done underground that hasn't been permitted, which means you'll have to pay to have the work scrapped or upgraded to meet county codes. Making sure that you get a land improvement report for any piece of property you consider purchasing will help ensure that there aren't any ugly surprises to deal with after you make the purchase.
Neighboring Lot Plans
It's also a good idea to consider what plans have already been made for neighboring lots if they haven't already been developed. Unless you own the properties on either side of the one you're considering purchasing, you have no control over what will get built on them or who will live there.
If you can find out whether any plans are made for the lots that neighbor a piece of land you want to buy, you can decide whether you want to be exposed to those plans as they come to fruition. If for any reason you can't find out what will happen to the neighboring lots, you can always build a privacy fence or incorporate hedges to keep your property separated from the others.